Precipitated silicas may be incorporated into rubber compounds (S. Wolff, Kautschuk and Gummikunstst 7:674 (1988)). Known silicas may be only very poorly dispersed in rubber compounds, particularly at high filling rates. This poor dispersibility is one of the reasons why elevated silica filling rates are used only rarely in tire compounds. One reason for poor dispersibility may lie in the process by which the precipitated silicas are produced. Drying, poor grinding or excessively hard granulation may lead to silica particles which cannot readily be dispersed (filler flecks). These flecks may be seen with the naked eye.
In addition, silicas are highly polar and therefore have only poor phase compatibility with the non-polar polymers in rubber compounds. This form of dispersion occurs on the basis of the silica aggregates. It may only be evaluated using a light microscope and is known as microdispersion.
Precipitated silicas which may be used as a filler in rubber compounds for tires are known from EP-A 0 520 862. A precipitated silica is known from published European Patent Application EP-A 0 157 703 which, according to EP-A 0 501 227, may be used as a filler in rubber compounds for tires.
Known precipitated silicas have the disadvantage that they exhibit poor microdispersion.